Promises
by UltimateOtakuGirl100
Summary: Time. Space. Everything. Nothing. The world. The universe. The war. The peace. The love. The hate. All these are part of Shikon... the force that sustains balance. However... now the balance is disturbed... What will happen? Full summary on profile
1. Why Me?

Chapter 1: Why Me?

**This is my first Inuyasha Fanfic, and I am SOOOO excited! I have been planning this story for, like, FOREVER. And, well, here it is, obviously! **

**I will try to make these intros short, so I'll stop here. **

**Enjoy the story!**

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><p><em>Naraku was NOT pleased. The plan with Kohaku? That had failed miserably. Sure, maybe he added to Sango's misery and grief, amusing himself in the process. But that wasn't a <em>success_. The first time he used Kanna to try to kill Inuyasha, and that woman whose name he despised even thinking of and was the reincarnation of Kikyo, and all the others of their group, that had nearly worked__—__but _nearly _wasn't a success either. __Juuroumaru and Kageroumaru__ had failed in their job, too. Naraku reflected on all of his other dirty schemes and his anger grew at each failure. Finally, he reached his boiling point. "AGHHH!" Naraku let out an enraged growl of fury, so agitated that his eyes began to glow a bright red and created a howling tornado all around his body that lifted him several feet off the ground. Trees, dirt, rocks, and small animals like squirrels that had been foolish enough to stick around within a mile of the contemplating half- demon were lifted easily into the air, fallen prey to the less-than-human creature whose anger was currently in control. They were quickly hurtled through the air several miles away to their certain demise. _

_Kagura, who was spying from afar, shuddered to herself. Even she, the Wind Sorceress, was anxious. She could feel the wind, tinted with Naraku's unrelenting fury. _Better not mess with _him _right now, _she thought. Then, to her surprise, the wind slowed and stopped. Naraku closed his eyes. _

"_Kukuku, mustn't lose control over my anger," he said, calmly re-opening his eyes—which were back to their normal color. Then, something in his brain clicked. An evil grin crept across his face. He had an idea. "I need to try something new," he murmured to himself. "Something I've never tried before…" His eyes gleamed with malice. "A wise demon once said, 'The best way to get rid of a pesky weed that keeps growing back is to destroy it at its source…even if it means doing so little by little…'" His terrifying, evil laughter sent chills down the incarnation's spine. She pulled a feather out of her hair, threw it to the ground, and flew away, the wicked cackle of glee echoing loudly behind her._

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><p><em><strong>*Kagome's POV*<strong>_

My name is Kagome. Not "hey". Not "woman". And certainly not "wench"!

"HEY!" I heard Inuyasha yell. I kept walking. _Oh, of all the nerve! _I thought, furiously. I was fuming. _I save his sorry butt, and how am I rewarded? _A tongue-lashing, that's how. _It is partially your fault, you know, _a small, rebellious corner of my mind protests. _You're the one who got yourself into that trouble. _I snapped back, _Yeah, well, I saved myself in the end, didn't I? _I locked the objecting portion of my mind away, and stubbornly made sure not to turn around.

Every step I took was filled with anger. How did I always manage to get myself yelled at by that willful, selfish, two-timing half-demon jerk (whose name I flatly refused to think)? Simple. I'm too weak. I'm a burden. I always manage to get myself into trouble.

That annoying half-demon can protect himself; with his claws, Tetsuseiga, and his last-resort full-demon transformation—I shuddered to myself at the memory of seeing him when he loses his soul—almost nothing can stand in his way. Miroku, the monk, with his terrifying Wind Tunnel, has learned to use his greatest burden to his greatest advantage, along with his staff and those paper oracles that he probably has a special name for but I never remember to ask what it is, is a great help to the group as well (but it _is _pretty annoying when he says, "There's a dark cloud looming over this house! I shall provide an exorcism!" every time we need a place to stay, and when he goes up to every pretty girl he sees with his perverted mind and asks her to bear his child). Sango, the Demon Slayer, with all her amazing fighting glory, can take down almost every enemy with her giant boomerang, the Hiraikotsu, handheld poison, and also a concealed knife-like sword. She and Kirara, the fire cat-demon that is normally the size and shape of your average household cat except with two tails but, in battle, transforms into a giant flying tiger-like demon, can usually take care of an entire army in minutes. Even Shippo, the young fox-child, can take care of most of the enemies with his Fox Fire, using his illusionary giant spinning tops and heavy-weight statue to his advantage.

As for me…

Here I am, using Kikyo's borrowed priestess powers to attempt at protecting myself. Everything I'm useful for, including my Sacred Arrows, the glowing priestess powers that randomly occur when I'm in danger that I haven't been able to re-activate since the first time I came to the Feudal Era, and my ability to "see" the Sacred Jewel are all due to Kikyo. If I wasn't her reincarnation, then I wouldn't be of any use to anyone. That's probably why that half-demon keeps running off to Kikyo every time she appears and abandoning me, leaving me vulnerable… and heart-broken… after all, who would want a copy when they could have the original?

I felt tears begin to creep into my eyes as I reflected on this. Furiously, I blinked them away. I wasn't going to break town and cry here, not in front of him. I wasn't going to show any more weakness than I already had. I was going to stay mad. I was going to go back through the well to my own time. I was going to leave him here so he could sulk for a while, and try not to…

Cry…

"Hey! Get back here! We need to gather the Sacred Jewel shards!" The half-demon's voice snapped me back to reality, and saved me the embarrassment of breaking down in tears. I finally spun around, and glared right into the gold-with-a-hint-of-amber eyes that were watching my every move. And, beneath that façade of anger and arrogance, in his eyes I could see he was studying me, as if he was trying to figure out what was going on in my head.

But I wasn't about to show him how hurt I was. I ached from his most recent visit with Kikyo- both physically and emotionally. I replayed what had happened just over an hour ago, when the morning was still fresh and the sun still hadn't decided to peek up over the horizon.

_***Flashback, that morning, Normal POV***_

Kagome stirred. Perhaps she'd sensed Inuyasha shifting. Maybe it was just a coincidence that her sub-consciousness decided that then was the time to wake up. Either way, her eyes fluttered open at what she would later realize was the worst possible time. As if by instinct, she looked towards the tree where Inuyasha sat. To her surprise, his eyes were no longer closed. Instead, his line of sight had shifted to the sky. Curious, Kagome followed his gaze—and immediately wished she hadn't. For up in the sky, illuminated by the light of the moon, was the cause for Inuyasha's interest- a Soul Collector. _Oh, no, please, she thought, 'please. Not tonight- not so soon after our fight. _

You see, that day, they had fought a demon that had snuck up on Kagome while she was in a hot spring by masking its demonic aura. It had nearly killed her. It was raising a barbed tentacle and was about to strike. If Inuyasha hadn't stopped it, she would have died. But, thankfully, Inuyasha spotted it first, and prevented it from hurting her. After her getting out of the hot spring, she grabbed her bow and arrows and, since Inuyasha had dropped Tetsuseiga and was being choked by the demon, she used a Sacred Arrow and killed it with her purifying priestess powers so Inuyasha wouldn't go full-demon. The only problem was, when it was about to attack Kagome, Inuyasha didn't have enough time to release an attack to stop it—instead, he had to jump in between the two in order to shield her from the attack. Kagome, of course, under different circumstances, would have thanked him; unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Instead, she had yelled at him, unable to bring herself to thank him (and found the excuse that she was in a hot spring, what was he doing there, he was spying, she didn't need any help, etcetera, etcetera). He'd yelled back, and the argument continued until Kagome stormed off, leaving Inuyasha's face in the dirt (quite literally). Afterwards, they had given each other the silent treatment, all the way to when they had laid down and fallen into an uncomfortable slumber.

And so, there she was, watching forlornly as he glanced at the ground, trying to make sure no one was watching but not noticing that Kagome was doing just that, hopped off his branch without making a sound, and chased after Kikyo's Soul Collector.

Kagome's heart might as well have been split in two with one of her own arrows, she was so grieved. It hurt too much. And, although she knew very well that it would just cause more pain, she slid out of her sleeping bag. She took a fleeting look at the sleeping faces of her friends, and heaved a sigh so quietly that not even Inuyasha's super-hearing would have caught from ten feet away. Without making a sound, she stood up, sighed again, and sullenly followed Inuyasha.

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><p>Kagome stumbled over fallen logs, tripped on rocks in her path, cut her arms and legs on branches, and her hair caught on some twigs and leaves along the way. But as she staggered along, she didn't stop, not once. She just blindly headed in the general direction she'd seen Inuyasha go.<p>

She didn't think; she just permitted her mind go completely blank and let her body take control. And her body wanted to follow after Inuyasha. So she did. She decided to let her body blindly pursue the man she-

No. Thought was just a burden. It wasn't a necessary element, nor was emotion. All it did was distract from a person's goal. It was a useless distraction; it was meaningless. At the moment, if she thought, then she would just feel pain. It was better not to think. Safer. Easier. _No thought. No thought. No thought. No thought… Blank… Blank… A blank mind… Complete and utter blankness…_

Her mind was swept clean of any thought and she continued her journey—little did she know that later, such an action would later be repeated, and would have some consequences.

At some point, the body of the woman without a mind named Kagome tripped for what seemed to be the trillionth time—a body without a mind doesn't need to count; numbers are pointless and unnecessary—and fell against the rough back of a tree at the edge of a clearing. Her face as emotionless and unfeeling as Kanna and her body as immune to feeling pain as Inuyasha whenever his demon side takes control, she lifted her arms and began to push against the tree when she heard voices. She leaned back into the tree, and, her face completely blank, she lifted her foot off the ground and placed it on a conveniently low branch. She lifted her other leg, and that foot found purchase on the tree too. She lifted her hands once more, and began to climb without making a single sound.

She didn't lose her grip, didn't stumble, didn't fall. She was eerily silent—and fast—with her movements.

The young priestess who didn't think soon reached the top of the tree. She peered through the leaves and branches, and what she saw stirred something inside of her. Inuyasha. Inuyasha, and Kikyo. Together. Talking.

"Kikyo, what are you _doing _here?" Inuyasha asked this question in not an offensive tone, but a curious one.

"Is it so wrong to want to see my beloved once in a while?" came Kikyo's slightly mocking response.

Inuyasha didn't reply.

Kikyo chuckled softly, a sound unheard of for her. Petting a Soul Collector lightly on the head as it wrapped itself around her body, she said, "Yes, yes, that is not my true reason for summoning you here. The real reason is, Naraku has revealed himself once more."

At the mention of the evil half demon, Inuyasha staggered back, shocked. "B-but… How? When? When did this happen?"

Kikyo sighed. The Soul Collector uncoiled itself from around her and glided away a short distance. "I do not know. But my Soul Collectors have informed me that he has been spotted multiple times in various locations—all nearby."

Inuyasha growled. "Why, that little… Why is he… Who does he think…" He seemed unable to finish a sentence and stuttered several times, too infuriated to form a complete thought.

Kagome shivered from her tree. Not enough to alert Inuyasha to her presence, but just enough to release a bit of the fear threatening to consume her at the mention of Naraku.

Kikyo, apparently not done but slightly amused at the half-demon's antics, continued and began to walk forwards towards him. "I have decided to investigate what he is up to, and perhaps confront him."

Inuyasha ceased his mumblings immediately. "Don't! He's much too powerful. I don't want you to get-"

Kikyo silenced him from saying anything more with a kiss. Inuyasha, too stunned to react, didn't move. He just stood there as Kikyo pressed her cold, undead lips against his, his golden eyes wide with shock.

Kagome, watching from above, and felt the overwhelming pain begin to gnaw at her already damaged heart. She felt tears form in her eyes, blurring her vision. She blinked them away. She wasn't going to give in to pain and despair. Not yet.

Then, right as Inuyasha was beginning to regain control of his senses, Kikyo pulled away. With an odd smirk on her usually emotionless face, she took a few steps back, spread out her arms, and allowed the many Soul Collectors to coil themselves around her arms and legs.

As they began to hoist her away through the sky, Kikyo said, none too loudly, and the smirk still on her face, "I bid you farewell. Good luck during your next battle with Naraku. And," she added, "don't worry about me dying. Remember—I'm already dead."

Inuyasha just stood there, gaping at the sky, still stunned at what had just happened. So stunned, in fact, he didn't, no, _couldn't_ hear or notice Kagome leaping from her tree, landing with a faint thud, and running as fast as her legs could take her back to camp until she was already gone.

_***End of Flashback, Kagome's POV***_

Well, there you go. What a way to wake up in the morning, huh? Yes, waking to find the half-demon who'd stolen your heart chasing after another—that happened to _already be dead_—isn't exactly a great start to your day. Unfortunately, that's what you have to get used to when you fall in love with a half-demon from 500 years in the past.

My anger reaching the boiling point, I glared at him straight in the eye and yelled, "SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SITSITSITSITSITSITSITSIT SIIIIIIIT!" With each "sit" his head plunged into the ground with a very satisfying _THUD_. I smirked. _Thank you, rosary beads, _I thought. I made a mental note to thank Kaede later for putting the beads on Inuyasha's neck. Still smirking, although inside I was fighting the anger attempting to resurface, I turned around again and began to walk coolly away.

Then I heard Inuyasha attempt to speak through his mouthful of dirt. It came out like this: "Ught hutt bough Nrrmkm? Ught ff e fnns oo?" Rolling my eyes, I stopped and turned around again, more slowly this time. Inuyasha emitted an irritated growl that was muffled by the dirt, since the rosary beads still wouldn't let him up. After the trusty beads stopped glowing, Inuyasha pushed himself out of his small crater, furiously spat out all the dirt from his mouth, and shouted, "I _said_, 'but what about Naraku? What if he finds you?'"

I involuntarily flinched. That was one of the very few subjects I was unwilling to talk about, aside from the Kikyo thing. My entire body trembling from the extremity of my anger, I screamed so loud that I wouldn't have been surprised if all of Japan heard me the following: SHUT _UP! _I DON'T _CARE_! SITSITSITSITSITSITSIT…." I "sat" Inuyasha so many times I lost track.

Apparently, though, the bystanders hadn't. I heard Miroku whistle and shout very much like a modern-era game show host, "Wow! One hundred and thirteen 'sits'! A whole new record! I'll be surprised if Inuyasha gets up from _that _one, guys!"

My other on-lookers, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara, stared, looking shocked, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets. "I have to say, for once, I agree with the monk," Sango managed to get out. "I don't think he's getting up. In fact, I don't even think he's conscious anymore." Shippo nodded lamely in agreement, unable to say anything. Kirara just continued to stare, her tails drooping slightly in her shock.

Turns out, Sango was right. A soft moan could be heard from his 5-feet*-deep crater, then total silence as he passed out. Shifting her gaze from Inuyasha to me, she said carefully, "I know that whatever Inuyasha did this time must have been pretty bad, but… don't you think you went a little overboard?"

Actually, I did, but I wasn't going to admit it—I was way too mad. "No," I said, slightly huffy, and swung around again. I continued to go in the direction I'd been trying to go before. I'd only taken a few steps when I stopped and said without turning around, "I'm going home for a few days. If Inuyasha tries to follow… well, for his own good, don't let him follow."

With that, I continued to walk away, hoisting my bow and arrows onto my back for protection.

_***Some time later, Kagome's POV* **_

Saying I was in a bad mood was like saying water was damp. I had, in fact, been pursued by several demons on my way to the well, since the well was quite a ways away from our camping spot—unfortunately for them, I didn't have the time or patience to stop and play. All the demons I had seen had been pretty weak; I'd obliterated each of the demons on the spot as soon as I detected their aura with my Sacred Arrows, not even giving them a chance to attack. I hadn't even required very much effort for any of them; so little, in fact, that I could space out and think about what had happened with Inuyasha and me this morning and still be completely prepared for any demon attacks.

I'd managed to keep my anger at him high until I was standing by the Bone Eater's Well.

That's when my sadness escaped.

I collapsed against the side of the well. My head was buried in my arms; my arms were folded, resting on the side of the well. My legs were sprawled out behind me. My body racked with sobs as tears fell silently from my eyes. Tears dripped down the inside walls of the well; but there was never a splash when they reached the bottom. I didn't notice or care. I cried and cried, and cried some more.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I felt the tears stop. My eyes, apparently, couldn't cry anymore. I lie there for a little while longer, not crying anymore, but still upset. Eventually, when I figured I'd wasted enough time, I shakily got up. My body still trembling, I placed both shaking arms on the edge of the well. I took a quavering breath in, and then jumped in.

_***Moments later, Normal POV***_

Just then, a figure in a baboon cloak stepped into the clearing. His expression unreadable, he took several steps forward.

His nose poking out slightly from his hood, he took a quick sniff of the well; it was drenched in Kagome and Inuyasha's scents, only Kagome's most recent path to it ended there and didn't return. It wasn't possible that she had hopped on their two-tailed cat demon and flown away, as the hooded figure would have seen them. The hooded figure thought a moment.

A slow smile crept across the visible bottom half of his face.

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><p><strong>Hey, all you FanFiction peeps! I am a newbie to actually AUTHORING stories, although I have been reading other people's for quite a while. I absolutely ADORE Inuyasha; it is in my TOP THREE VERY FAVORITE ANIMES. <strong>

**Okay, so, as this was just the first chapter, it is like an introduction that has a slight relevance to the rest of the story. I am going to have longer AND shorter chapters than this, so be forewarned :)**

**Is it REALLY that hard to guess who the hooded figure is? Come ON. **

**There is NO GARUNTEE for quick updates, but if you like this story, then you can help with that by reviewing. Reviewing gives me incentive to type faster, so lots of reviewing= fast updates! **

**PLEASE, NO FLAMES! If you want to flame something, go burn some firewood at a campsite somewhere, cuz no flames allowed here! I KNOW that the character personalities might seem slightly different, but, hey, I tried, and in future chapters, their personalities will be closer to their real ones. I'm sorry, but it's hard to write!**

***I am too lazy to try to convert to the metric system. **

**Review, please.**


	2. These Things Just Happen

Chapter 2: These Things Just Happen

**And here I am, back again! Wow, this update came a lot faster than I thought it would ^_^ After all, I was on vacation for a while, and between everything, I rarely found time to write an update :) And yet, somehow, here I am, adding the final touches! Yayz! **

**I am shocked, cuz the first chapter took, like, 4 months to write, and this one only took a little over a week or two. O.o I guess that all I needed was to get out the first chappie in order to find my motivation ;)**

**I know the title doesn't really fit, but I couldn't think of anything else :/**

**A shout-out to Kagome-chan345 and Sakura Tsubari, my only reviewers! Thanks SOOO so much! **

**Okay, on with the show!**

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><p><em><strong>*Normal POV*<strong>_

It had been several minutes since Kagome stormed off towards the well, leaving the group behind. Of course, that gave them plenty of time to start their usual… "habits".

"PERVERT!"

A slap echoed loudly throughout the valley.

Miroku received a large, bright red, throbbing hand-shaped mark on his face.

"B-but, Sango, dearest, I-I was just saying g-good m-morning!"

Sango glowered at him. She grabbed Hiraikotsu and lifted it above her head in an attack position. She let out a loud battle cry.

"AAAUUUUGH!"

Miroku ran.

Sango swung the giant boomerang.

Miroku ducked and pleaded with Sango.

Sango swung again.

Shippo sighed from the sidelines, watching their quarrel. "Honestly. I'm just a _child_, and even _I_ think they should stop bickering and actually start thinking about the situation."

Kirara let out her bell-like meow in agreement and cocked her head to the side.

"What is it, Kirara?"

Kirara stood up and strolled over to Inuyasha's crater.

A soft groan could be heard from it.

"Oh, good. He's finally waking up."

_***Inuyasha's POV***_

Black. Dark. Cold. And yet, it wasn't unwelcoming. It was… strange. Just plain weird. I was just floating. I was… kinda… sort of… maybe… serene, even. The darkness was relieving me of my worries, troubles, and problems.

Yeah. Key word _was_. I heard yelling through my bubble of quiet. It forced me out of my peaceful silence and gave me a little jumpstart into the real world, making me remember a fraction of the important details the darkness had made me forget. I could even define the voices, thanks to my demon heritage.

Waking up is a different thing for half-demons than pure-blood humans or full-demons. Because demons' instincts are more alert than a human's, the demon half will consequently notice things first. So, the demon half will wake up sooner than the human half. However, the demon half will not be able to move a half-demon's body until the human half had been woken, too. I'd always wondered why that was, until I'd gone full-demon that first time. That was when I realized it: the human half would subdue the demon half until it was awakened by the demon half, preventing the demon side from taking control while the human part was asleep.

Anyway, that was the reason I was only half-awake.

Of course, since I was only half-awake, the awake part of me being my demon half, I was only able to think in dog-demon terms. This is what it was like for me:

_**Who is AWAKENING me from my SLUMBER? **__The voices registered. They were the human members of my would-be pack._ _**The monk and the demon-slayer. WHAT are they DOING disturbing me? And WHERE are my fellow demons? **__I waited. I could hear the young fox-demon murmuring something, and the cat-demon saying something in reply in her native cat-demon tongue that I probably would have understood, had it not been for the fact that I was too tired to attempt to translate. __**There… wait… WHERE IS MY MATE? **__Nowhere! My mate was nowhere! Mate was missing! __**My mate's scent! Need to follow! NEED TO PROTECT MATE! **_

The fear produced from my demon side overcame my exhausted body, and it forced my human half to wake. Of course, once that happened, the pain also registered. I let out a moan of agony.

My ears being ultra-sensitive (just as good as any demon's), I heard Kirara's ears dip to the side, meaning that she must have heard me. "What is it, Kirara?" came Shippo's voice, obviously having not paid enough attention to hear me. I detected Kirara's footsteps trotting towards my crater. Trying to move, I only succeeded in causing a new sharp jolt of pain to course through my body. I groaned in pain again. "Oh, good, he's finally waking up."

I released all of my tension in my body and focused all of my attention on my demon side. I calmed my senses slightly as I felt my demon blood going to work at my wounds. Once I was mostly healed, I stood up and used a small fraction of my demon power to leap out of my crater once I realized it was too deep to use my human strength alone.

"Inuyasha! You're awake?" Sango asked, having stopped trying to murder Miroku (much to the perverted monk's relief).

I grunted. "Well, I wasn't until you guys began screaming your heads off."

Miroku, glancing nervously at Sango as if afraid she would remember she wanted to kill him, took a step forward, cleared his throat, and spoke. "So, what exactly happened last night that made Kagome so angry? Does it have something to do with Kikyo, as I suspect?"

Everyone froze in the group and turned to stare at him. I don't know for sure what they were thinking (I may have enhanced demon senses but that doesn't make me a psychic), but I'm pretty much certain that it went something like this: _Either he's the bravest man in the world, or he's the biggest idiot in it._

As for me, I froze for an entirely different reason. I suddenly remembered all the events of the previous night, all the way to the present. I felt all the color drain from my face. _K…Kagome… _

I was silent. I remembered something. It had to do with her… but… what was it?

It was something about my half-awakened state this morning, of that I was sure...

I didn't say anything as I turned and headed in the direction of the forest. They didn't follow, and for that I was grateful. They must have known that talking to me wouldn't be a good idea.

After I was out of the group's earshot, I leaped onto the nearest tree and began jumping from tree to tree as fast as could. It always made me feel like I was able to run away from my fears and worries whenever I did that, although it was anything but.

As I was hurdling from branch to branch, my thoughts wandered to the thing that had been bothering me.

I could usually remember perfectly what my demon side had been thinking when I fully woke in the morning. But ever since I'd met Kagome… I could rarely remember everything, and would only remember bits and fragments. It would cut off whenever I tried or only give me pieces, like,_ …shall be my… _Or maybe, it would just be sort of like Kagome's strange fill-in-the-blank booklets*: _My _ will be so _ if _ ._It was so frustrating! It was like my demon side was keeping something from me. But that doesn't even make any _sense!_ I mean, how can you keep something from _yourself?_

And to add to my frustration, around a month or so ago, my _human _side began to do something very similar. A while ago, just when my human side would begin to wake up, I would think something easily memorable, like, _What was that about? _But now, when my human side began to wake up, it would act just like my demon half: _I wonder if ___ would be __ _if I told __ __?_

If it was impossible to have half of you keep a secret from you, then what was _both _halves of you keeping a secret from you? The peak of impossible?

And, what about this morning? I could remember something about Miroku and Sango bothering me… and Shippo and Kirara talking… and then… then… then…?

_Gah! _My head hurt just thinking about it.

Well, it didn't really matter at the moment, now did it? No, of course not. There was only one thing that mattered right now.

And that was finding Kagome.

_***Kagome's POV***_

I was sick. Like, _really _sick. As in, stomach aches, the flu, a slight fever, and stuff like that. It might have had something to do with heartache, based on what I knew. And I knew quite a bit, thanks to my previous encounters with it.

I'd come out of the well feeling absolutely miserable. I had loudly slammed the sliding door to my house, shocking my entire family straight out of their seats (they had been watching TV on the couch before I came in, as it was a Saturday)—so much, in fact, that Gramps had grabbed one of his demon-expelling paper oracles and slapped it onto my forehead before he realized it was me and peeled it off my irritable face. I hadn't even given them enough time to say hello before I stormed off to my room and slammed that door, too.

I hadn't taken more than a couple steps when I tripped on something—I later realized it was a stack of Gramps' stupid oracles that he'd apparently been slapping on the wall to keep Inuyasha out and threw a fit about it—and hit my head on my bedpost. My world suddenly became entirely dark, and I only felt my knees collapse and my body fall in a heap on the floor before I blacked out completely. Mom had rushed in and dragged me onto my bed (Sota had helped too) upon hearing the noise.

When I came to what seemed like forever but had only been a couple of minutes later, my mom had placed a wet rag on my forehead and was beaming down on me. She told me that she'd checked my temperature and found I had been coming down with something, and was afraid I might fall into a coma. After talking to me in a very concerned tone for a while, she finally left (but not before giving me a bunch of brands of medications I'd never heard of and placing a bucket by my bed in case I threw up).

I lay in bed, thinking. Just thinking. Every minute or so, I would feel sick again, and would take a pill my mom had set out for me. Eventually, all my symptoms other than minor sniffles and coughs reduced enough to allow me to move without feeling a huge wave of nausea, and I slowly got out of bed and walked over to my window.

From my window, I had a great view of the shrine. But there was one thing that caught all my attention. The sacred tree. _Goshibinku… _

This was the tree where it all began. Inuyasha had been sealed to that tree for fifty years by Kikyo. Then I came along and freed him, and our adventure began.

And then, later… _It was by this tree I finally realized my love for him, too…_

I really don't know when it was. But, before I knew it, I had fallen asleep with my arms folded on the frame of the windowsill. The last thing I saw was my own reflection in the window: my chocolate-brown eyes shining underneath my so-brown-it's-nearly-black hair, my eyes gazing blissfully into the sky, dreaming of what the future might bring…

_***The past, back at camp, Shippo's POV***_

I just can't understand grown-ups.

You think they're going to blow up at the slightest aggravation, and then they just take off into the trees. Like, what the heck?

You'd think that they could be understandable at least _some _of the time. But I haven't understood a thing they've said all morning.

It took me a really long time to realize what had just happened, and I was the first to snap out of the "stunned" trance. When what happened finally sunk in, I yelped and leapt off the ground.

"R-r-remember w-what K-Kagome said? You know, about th-the, 'don't let Inuyasha follow'?"

That snapped everyone out of their daze. "Oh, crap," Sango said, "I think Inuyasha's gonna die. I kind of feel sorry for him."

I couldn't believe it. They were just gonna _let him stroll _straight _to his death_? "No, guys!" I cried. "Don't you think we should… you know… _warn_ him?"

Miroku, after a few moments, cleared his throat. "Well… I don't know about that," he said slowly. "It's probably not a good idea. You know… he might get mad… or… Kagome will get mad… or… uh…"

"You're just scared you'll get hurt!" I taunted angrily. "Well, I don't care. I'm going to either get Kagome, or I'll go stop Inuyasha from being a total idiot and _literally_ digging his own grave. Now GOOD BYE!"

Feeling frustrated, I yelled, "Come on, Kirara, let's go." Kirara, suddenly on full alert, jumped up obediently and transformed to her larger state. I became my balloon.

Realizing that Kirara was going to go with or without her, Sango cried, "W-wait! Kirara, I'm coming too!" and hopped on the cat-demon's back.

After several moments, Miroku's delayed reaction kicked in. "N-no! Wait, I'll come, too! D-don't leave without me!" He jumped onto the retreating back of Kirara right before she would have flown out of his reach.

I, feeling very pleased with myself, shouted happily, "And off we go!"

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, this one wasn't a very good chapter either, I'll admit ;( It didn't give you the right idea for the rest of the story, cuz the story's NOT going to be all angsty and depressing, and it is going to have a slightly different storyline than these 2 chappies may have led you to believe (I'll tell you in a chapter or so, 'K?). It's also around a half-thousand words shorter. It's hard to think, ok? So don't judge me! I mean, FIRST TIME WRITER here, okay? It's okay for a first time writer, right? RIGHT? (I get crazy when I have a panic attack O.o) But seriously. Does ANYONE like my story? Anyone AT ALL? If so, then PUH-LEAZE review! <strong>

**I'm sorry that this chapter was total crap, but I was trying to make it as long as possible and cover as much as I could. That is why there are several would-have-been-great-to-stop-at points where I DIDN'T. Yes, I KNOW it was pretty bad, but NOOO criticizing me, please! I am WELL AWARE of it. **

**Did anyone notice that Inuyasha couldn't remember any of the romantic thoughts his demon side was having? Or the fact that his demon half only thought in terms of race, not names? Yes? No? Maybe?**

**And will someone just take a WILD GUESS at what some of the blanks were, or possibly who Inuyasha's demon side was referring to as MATE: Kagome or Kikyo? And did anyone realize I didn't talk about Naraku AT ALL during this chapter? Yes, there was, in fact, a VEEEEERY good reason for that. Wait and see ^_^ (Regardless of whether or not you did notice it, now that I brought it to your attention, you know it now XD)**

***Mad Libs reference XD (lol, did anyone catch that?) **

**Okay, let me straighten something out. In the last chapter, I said no flames—but that does NOT mean that you can't give me suggestions or point out the occasional error. Just try not to be too mean about it, K? Like, _You forgot to add punctuation in the first sentence of the eighth paragraph. Can you fix it? _instead of _You're such an idiot! You COMPLETELY missed your punctuation! _Okay? Are we all good? Okay. **

**IF YOU LIKE THIS STORY, REVIEW! It will inspire me to TYPE SO FAST MY KEYBOARD BUSTS. XD **


	3. The Night Terror

Chapter 3: The Night Terror

**Muah ha ha, here I am, back again, preparing to get you anxious. :) **

**I'm REEEAAAALLY sorry that it took SO FREAKING LONG to update, but for some reason, my writer's block was hating on this story. :/ So, instead, I would work on some other stories (that I'm planning to publish later) for a little while, and then, eventually, I would return to this story, type a couple sentences, then go back to the other stuff. I only managed to get my creative spark back, like, three days ago, so that's why I haven't been able to update this in a while. But hopefully, the length of this chapter will make up for the wait. OK? **

**Ok. Now, read on to find out what happens!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Normal POV*<strong>_

Naraku chuckled to himself, now watching Inuyasha run for his human. It had been quite entertaining watching the two's quarrel, and even more so to watch Inuyasha chase after her like a guilty puppy begging for forgiveness after the fact. After that, he'd followed the two from a safe distance.

But now, he had a plan quite important to perform before the time was up and the barrier to the place he had to go returned, for it was gone for the time being. And, if he didn't act _now_, he would miss his chance for a whole other year—and that wasn't a wait he was willing to have just to amuse himself.

He turned on his branch, preparing to leave, but then stopped just before he would have leapt. A thought had come to him.

He laughed quietly as he formed a plan; it was brilliant. He was killing two birds with one great, big, oversized and horrifyingly perfect stone.

_***Inuyasha's POV* **_

I sprinted through the trees, running as fast as my legs could go. I ran to the well (Kagome's scent had led me there) in the time that, had I been a mere human, would have taken me at the _very least_ a half hour (had I really been unconscious _that long_?), but since I was a half-demon, I made the journey in a little over a minute.

So, there I was, finally standing by the well. I took several seconds to stare blankly at the shadowy depths of the well. After a minute or so, I glanced at my right hand—that was the hand I was clutching my share of Sacred Jewel shards in—and clenched my fist even tighter around them. Feeling a spark of determination, I gripped both my hands on the edge of the well… then hesitated. I noticed something.

The well was drenched—and I mean _drenched_—in Kagome's tears. My grip on the edge loosened slightly.

I sucked in a shaky breath, feeling my determination begin to dwindle. Thoughts that were likely caused by my anxiety began swimming around in my head; stuff along the lines of, _What if she's mad at me? What if she "sits" me so many times that you can see my crater from the moon? _And, the thing that, oddly enough, was the thing that crossed my mind the most (and, if you were to go back to the "swimming" analogy, that thought would probably win the Olympics for swimming the most laps) was this: _What if she refuses to come back with me? _

But, knowing I was being a wimp, I swallowed my fear and tightened my grip on the edge again when I froze. Doubting even my own senses, I stuck my nose up in the air and took a quick sniff. Still not believing it, I sniffed again, long and hard this time. Yes, there was no mistaking it, although that didn't make it any easier to believe.

I could smell what was undoubtedly Naraku's scent.

I was stunned. Naraku disappears for _months_, and then he finally decides to reappear _now_? And why would he just _leave his scent unmasked_?

I glanced at the well, and then dropped my hands completely. I felt a sharp jolt of… _something _course through my body, but I chose to ignore it. I turned around and crouched into a running position. I gave one last glance at the well, and thought, _I'm sorry, Kagome._

Then I took off in the direction of Naraku's scent.

_***Normal POV***_

The Inu group (minus Kagome and Inuyasha) flew through the sky. There was complete silence, other than the wind in their ears, until Shippo shouted triumphantly, "Hey! Hey! Guys! I see it! I see it! I see the well!"

So, they eagerly dove (Shippo more eagerly than the rest) through the sky to the ground next to the well. When they touched ground, Shippo sniffed the well, expecting to smell Inuyasha's scent on it, only to find something none of them expected. Shocked, Shippo said in disbelief, "He-he didn't go in. He went right past it."

The rest of the group just stared at him like he had sprouted three heads and said he was an alien. After a few moments of stunned silence, Sango cried, "Wh-wh-WHAAAAAAT?"

"I'm serious! He went to the well, stopped, then kept on going," Shippo insisted. "And, I can clearly tell that Kagome went in," he added before anyone could ask. He didn't tell them that Kagome had been crying.

"B-but why? Doesn't he know…?" Sango couldn't finish her sentence.

"I don't think he does," Shippo answered, still shocked.

"But _why_?"

Shippo, still not believing, sniffed the well again—then paled considerably. "…I don't believe it…" he whispered, his eyes practically popping out of his head.

"What? What's wrong?" Sango asked nervously, not liking the young fox-demon's reaction.

"I… I… I… can't… believe… oh…" Shippo muttered something incomprehensible.

"What?" Sango repeated.

Shippo finally looked at her. His eyes were as large as golf balls. "It's Naraku," he said, so quietly that it could have been mistaken for the wind. "He's back." He gulped, looking like he was about to suffocate. "And Inuyasha followed him."

There was nothing but silence for what seemed like eternity.

But then, Sango, ever the fast-reacting one, snapped back into reality. "Then what are we just standing around here for?" she practically screamed. "Shippo, you stay here and wait for Kagome. Everyone else, Let's go!"

None of them noticed the Sacred Jewel shard that had been dangling on the edge of the well; not even when gravity won and the pink shard tumbled in.

_***Sota's POV***_

I wondered what could have possibly happened to make Sis sick. Did Inu Onii-San make Kagome upset again?

"Mom, what do you think happened to Kagome that made her get so sick? She was all grumpy when she came home, and then she was all bumping her head, and then she got sick, and, uh, and then—"

"I honestly have no idea," she interrupted, before I could start rambling. "You'll have to ask her when she wakes up." After that, she said she needed to go to the store to buy something, and left.

So, there I was, sitting next to the door of Kagome's room, when it slowly creaked open. I jumped up, preparing to ask her what had happened, when I looked at her closely.

Her eyes were barely open and in silts; her face looked drained of all color; her hair was a big poofy mess. Her knees were wobbling slightly from the pressure, and her arms were dangling limp at her sides. She was still in her PJs, and she was dragging her feet in each step, like a zombie in a horror movie. In fact, her overall impression was that she _was_ a zombie in a horror movie.

She was sleepwalking.

"I sense the Sacred Jewel…" she murmured; talking in her sleep. "Inuyasha… there's a Sacred Jewel… shard…" She lifted her limp arms into the air, her hands drooping slightly in her strange position, as if to shoot an invisible arrow from her invisible bow. "…I'll… get the demon… you… grab the… shard…"

I gawked at her. _She's so focused on the Feudal Era that she's having _dreams _about it! _I nervously approached her; I knew what she was like when she was sleepwalking. Taking extra care to go super slow, I cautiously dragged my feet towards her, as not to scare her.

While I was trying to walk towards her, she loosened an already limp hand, like she was shooting an arrow. "…Do… you… have the… shard yet…?" She turned her head to the side; her unseeing, dull eyes staring… _straight at me_.

After a moment, as if waiting for the unheard response, she smiled sleepily; it was weak and, due to her sleep, false-looking. I froze. _C…Creepy…_

Then, after another few seconds, her sleepy smile got even wider (and even creepier, if that was possible) and she murmured happily, "Oh… yeah… that's… right… you… can't... sense… the… shard…" She turned in the opposite direction of me and started down the hallway. "All… right… I'll just… go get it… for… you… instead…"

"W-wait!" I cried as I leapt to her side and grabbed her, momentarily forgetting the consequences of doing that in my panic.

Immediately after I had seized her, we both froze. Me, because I remembered what stirring her would do. Her, for an entirely different reason.

And then Kagome reacted violently.

She recoiled at my touch, and began to writhe and squirm. She began hyperventilating in her sleep. She began lashing out in her half-asleep state, jerking and shaking and trembling. She began wildly swinging her arms, screaming and whacking me over and over, punching and kicking, and struggling with all her might.

She was having what we called "Night Terrors", which she'd had every once in a while (every once in a while being every other month) even _before_ Kagome entered the Feudal Era for the first time. Only, before then, it only involved her lying in her bed, screaming with all her might and thrashing under her blankets until either she couldn't scream anymore or until she woke.

But after she'd been going to the Feudal Era for a while, her Night Terrors grew more frequent (around once a week, if she was here in our time that long) and more troublesome; she'd begin to sleepwalk and talk in her sleep, and if someone touched her, she would start writhing and screaming and, no matter whether or not you began to shake her or talk to her in attempt to wake her, she would not wake up until either it was morning or, the better solution we had discovered a while ago, shining a flashlight on her face.

And the worst part?

Even in the middle of all this, Kagome's eyes didn't open even a crack further, and her face barely showed any emotion, and the little emotion she did show was a cross between fatigue and fear. She was _still asleep_.

After a minute or so of our wild wrestling match, I realized what I had to do when Kagome, amidst all of her instinctive kicking and screaming, cried out, "Inuyasha! Inuyasha! _Inuyasha_! _Help me_!"

Bringing my plan into action, I grabbed a piece of spinach (it had been in my pocket since lunch an hour before because I didn't want to eat it) and winced at its now mostly-dry texture. Holding Kagome's thrashing body with one hand and holding up the spinach with the other, I literally shoved the spinach into the back of my mouth (and had to clamp the hand I had used to drop the spinach into my mouth with over my mouth to keep myself from puking). Pushing my nausea aside and taking my hand off my mouth, I said in my best imitation of Inu Onii-San's voice (which I have to say was pretty good, thanks to the dry spinach making my voice sound gruffer), "Kagome, calm down. It's me. It's Inuyasha."

Kagome calmed instantly, obviously believing it was actually him in her half-asleep state. She stopped writhing. She whispered, "…Inu…yasha… I need… to get to… the… Sacred… Jewel… shard…"

I kept whispering words of comfort in Inu Onii-San's voice and reassuring her that there was no shard as I put one arm behind her back and lightly, as not to scare her, pushed her into her room. I gently nudged her into her bed, and once she was lying down again, covered her with her blankets, talking to her all the while. I was still saying stuff to comfort her as I ever-so-slowly walked back to the door. Once I was out of her room and quietly closing the door behind me, I sighed with relief.

Then I gagged.

I clamped both hands over my mouth this time as I did a mad-dash to the bathroom. Once I was in there, I promptly spat out the spinach from my mouth into the toilet, then repeatedly spat again and again, as to cleanse my mouth from any residue of the revolting _thing_. When I could still taste the remains of it in my mouth, I grabbed the bar of soap from the counter and began rubbing it on my tongue.

After a while, when I could taste nothing but soap in my mouth, my arms were lying limp over the side of the sink, and staring at my sick-looking face in the mirror, all I could manage to think was, _Kagome…you'd better appreciate what I've went through…_

_***Kagome's POV***_

I could faintly recall a dream about a Sacred Jewel shard… and Inuyasha… and a demon… and Inuyasha… and someone attacking me… and did I mention _Inuyasha_?

Well, basically, there wasn't really anything else I could remember other than that as I slowly crept into consciousness.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I wasn't sleeping in my sleeping bag in the Feudal Era. I had a few moments of _Where am I? _before I finally realized it was the room I'd slept in for fifteen years of my life. _Geez… the Feudal Era is doing crazy things to my head…_

Shaking my head, I got out of bed.

Several minutes later, when I was fully dressed, I strolled exhaustedly into the kitchen. Upon my entrance, Sota looked up suddenly from his dinner (apparently, I'd slept through most of the day) with a seriously freaked out look on his face, but after a few moments of staring long and hard at my face, he visibly relaxed.

"What?" I asked.

"Ohhh, nothing," Sota said in the suspicious "I'm-not-telling-you-anything" tone. Rolling my eyes but dropping the subject, I pulled out my seat and sat down.

"Sooooo… uuuummmm… heeeeyy…" I said slowly, stretching out my vowels for no real reason, "What's for dinner?"

"Wirr 'abbann wice amma uch a waccawwi*!" Sota said over his mouthful of who-knows-what.

Thoroughly disgusted, I said with a revolted face, "Ahhh… yeah… never mind."

Just as I was about to ask Mom the same question, I froze.

Sota (having, fortunately, swallowed his food) asked, "Uhhh… Sis? What's wrong?"

I stood up abruptly, causing my seat to squeak noisily across the floor. "Uhhh… Sis?"

I stared blankly and unsure at the wall. "I sense a Sacred Jewel shard," I murmured under my breath disbelievingly.

"Sis? Sis? Whaddidja say? Sis?" I ignored him and ran out of the house and in the direction of the shard.

"SIIIIIIIS?" I heard his voice screaming from behind me. I continued to ignore him as I slammed the door to the wellhouse. I stared at the bottom of the well, not believing what I was seeing.

A Sacred Jewel shard.

Just lying there.

Still shocked, I hoisted myself onto the side of the well and allowed my self to freefall towards the shard head-first with my arm reaching out. My fingers wrapped around the tiny pink shard just as the blue light began to envelop me. I glided through time, drifted along by the blue light. And in seconds it was all over, and I was floating and staring directly at the floor of the well, only a few inches away from my face…

…And then I was fully transported, and I crashed face-first into the dirt.

_Note to self: never jump head-first into the well. _

I groaned, feeling my body flop onto the floor, apparently eager to join my poor face. _Now I know how Inuyasha feels whenever I "sit" him… Although surely, since he's a half-demon, it doesn't hurt _this _bad… _

Sighing again, I shakily lifted my arms and hoisted myself into a sitting position and began to use my hands to wipe the dirt off my face. After it was all off, I looked up at to the sky's sunset and was shocked to see a small figure lying on the edge of the well.

I climbed shakily out of the well, tucking the shard into my sleeve. I stared at Shippo's sleeping form and noticed the bubble coming out of his nose. Ignoring it so I wouldn't be disgusted, I shook his shoulder lightly. "Uh, Shippo? Hey? Wake up!"

Shippo snorted suddenly, and his bubble popped. He cracked an eye open. Then, after a moment of just staring sleepily at me, he jumped up, fully awake, and cried, "Gah! Kagome! How long have you been there?"

"Um, actually—"

"Quick! There's no time to lose! Inuyasha and the others went chasing after Naraku! We have to go _now_!"

Before I had any time to react, Shippo leaped off the floor, transformed into his giant bird-thingy, and used his beak to latch onto the back of my shirt and toss me onto his back. Then we were soaring through the sky, chasing after Inuyasha—and Naraku.

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Elsewhere, Normal POV*<strong>_

A small group of humans and demons were running.

Running, yes, but not out of fear of each other. No, they had long since adapted to each other; so much, in fact, that some of the members had begun to develop feelings for each other.

To an outsider, it might have seemed impossible; ridiculous, preposterous, irrational, absurd, and all the other words the doubtful world had invented for bonds such as the ones the odd, mismatched group shared. But the strange group didn't care. Even if the entire world had been against them, they would have stayed together until the very end. Of course, the _entire_ world wasn't against them; they had made several friends and allies along the way to the current day.

Then why were they running?

They were running from a being completely unnatural. A being without a soul. A being that, had said being not have been so evil, the group might have befriended, since they knew others of his kind—unfortunately, the being was too cold-hearted to be loved by anyone other than himself, for even his own creations despised him.

The group had not seen for themselves how the being had been created, although they knew. They knew the version of the being they were facing was just a puppet, a fake, and the real creature was somewhere else, doing something else that it probably thought to be more important than the battle they were having. They even knew a good portion of their future, too. They knew. In fact, they probably knew too much for their own good.

And yet, they didn't regret their knowledge, although sometimes it was hard to cope with.

Likely the group's two oddest members dodged a blow from the being's long tentacles and leapt out of the open and behind a tree from the nearby forest. One was a male, a male that was slightly less than human, and incredibly tall in comparison to the other.

The second was a little girl. Her face was completely emotionless, her eyes were blank, her body quite robotic and lifeless. At first glance to some, she might look like a normal girl, who would laugh and play and smile and love. But that wasn't the case. At first glance to others, she might look as if she were dead; a corpse, just an empty shell of what use to be. That wasn't the case either. She was not like your ordinary happy-go-lucky kind of girl, and she was quite alive.

The sort-of man and young, blank girl stood with their backs pressed against the back of the tree. The man's face displayed grim determination, while the girl's face was still completely emotionless.

The first glanced at the girl, and his face became creased with pain and sadness. He turned his entire body towards her, and wrapped his arms around her. The girl's face remained blank, revealing no emotion; she didn't even twitch. Her arms hung limp at her sides like a rag doll as he embraced her. The sort-of man's arms tightened around her as he closed his eyes, leaned in closed to her, and rested his head on her small shoulder.

"Don't worry," he whispered softly. "We'll get the Void back for what she did to you." His arms tensed around her as he opened his eyes—now filled with anger and determination—released her with one arm while keeping the other wrapped firmly around her waist, and glared at the sky, as if that could destroy their enemy. "We'll destroy her, and her creator."

His body began to tremble in his anger. He let go of her completely as he leapt out of the trees and attacked their enemy. More at their adversary's puppet now than the girl as he prepared to attack, he howled, "I will destroy Naraku!"

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, I'm back! ^_^ This chapter was really difficult to transfer my ideas onto the computer, but eventually, I managed. <strong>

**What was that last part about? Hmmmm… Let's see… oh yeah. I WON'T TELL YOU! XD You want to know the answer? Then stay with this story! MUAH HA HAAAAA! **

**Ok, before anyone asks, that part about the "Night Terrors" was just something I added for a little comic relief, **_**and**_** to show that she could even sense the Sacred Jewel in her sleep. :) Where did I get the idea for it? Well, long story short, my cousin Lauren has little things like nightmares every once in a while where she tosses and turns and screams in her sleep, even though she doesn't really have nightmares all that often. Her siblings call them "Night Terrors", and I just thought it would be interesting to add to my story. =^_^= Will it be an important part of the story? :/ well… maybe… but it will probably just be there to add some comic relief and something interesting for later. **

***Can anyone guess what Sota said through his mouthful of food? I'll reward you with an invisible cookie! XD **

**Do you like this story? Then, the magic word is… Please? NO!… Well… it kinda is, I guess… but, the REAL magic word I'm thinking of is REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REEEEEEVIIIIEEEW! **


	4. Collapsing

Chapter 4: Collapsing 

**Okay… First things first. **

**I'm SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOO sorry about not updating sooner! After I published chapter 3, my mind kinda went into overdrive, so the beginning kinda stinks… sorry… **

**And then after THAT, my mind went completely blank and so I didn't even bother for like a month. And THEN, at the beginning of spring break, my inspiration came back… but then my younger sister gave me the flu and I was sick for two days. X_X **

**But after THAT, I got better and, well, here's the update!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Normal POV*<strong>_

After a few minutes of soaring through the sky, Kagome and Shippo finally caught up with Sango, Miroku, and Kirara. They'd greeted, talked shortly, and then went on their way.

After a while of soaring through the sky, Kagome yelled out, "Guys! Is it just me, or does this route look kind of… familiar?"

At this, Sango looked closely at their surroundings—and paled considerably. "Sango? What's wrong? Sango?" Kagome asked nervously.

"I… I think… I… I do believe… I do believe you're… right, Kagome," Sango stuttered out shakily.

"Sango? SANGO?"

"I believe this is my home. This… this is the path to the Village of the Demon Slayers," Sango stated dully, looking calm; likely more so than she felt.. "Umm… Shippo…"

Shippo (as a balloon, since now Kagome, Miroku, and Sango were all on Kirara's back) bounced up at his name. "Yeah?"

"Are… are you _sure _this is the way Inuyasha and Naraku's scents went?"

"Well…" Shippo looked nervous.

"Just answer!" Sango shouted, making Shippo jump back several paces at Sango's tone.

Coming back up to Kirara's side, Shippo answered reluctantly, "Well… yeah. This is the way they went, yeah. I'm positive; there's no mistaking it."

Sango didn't react in any way. As if she hadn't even heard him, she turned away and, just as dully as before, said, "Alright, guys. Let's go."

Kagome looked at her friend sadly, but didn't say anything. _She must be worried that the same thing that happened the first time with Naraku will happen again… I'm so sorry, Sango, _she thought forlornly.

They continued to fly, although slightly faster now, through the air.

* * *

><p>Several silent minutes later, Kagome shouted over the wind, "Hey! Guys! I can see the walls of the village! We're nearly there!"<p>

Sure enough, the wooden walls of the Village of the Demon Slayers could be seen on the horizon.

With newfound speed, the group raced across the sky to the village, all half-expecting the entire village to be demolished once they got there. The last thing they expected was what they saw. They froze in the sky.

"It… It hasn't even been _touched_!" Sango cried out in the sky, her voice full of glee.

Shippo took this opportunity to change back to his normal state and hop onto Kirara. He sniffed the air. "Uh… guys?"

"Yeah?" they all said in unison.

"They… they didn't go _to _the village…"

They all stared intently at him, waiting for him to finish.

"They… the two of them… they…" Shippo growled childishly and threw his hands into the air. "_Gah_! Oh, for crying out _loud_!" He glared at them irritably, then sighed in defeat. "They went _around _it. They're at Midoriko's cave!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Inuyasha's POV*<strong>_

There I stood, in front of the cave. "Naraku!" I snarled. "Come out, you coward! We fight _now_!"

A chuckle echoed from everywhere at once. "Kukuku… I see that you haven't changed a bit since our last meeting, Inuyasha. You're just as impatient—_and weak_—as ever."

"Why, you sorry—come _out_! Do you have a death wish?"

"I would say the same to you, Inuyasha. Dancing and screaming when you can't even see your enemy—not wise, Inuyasha. Although, you aren't exactly well-known for your intelligence."

"_I'll make you eat those words_!" I unsheathed Tetsuseiga and held it in its transformed state in battle position. "Naraku! This ends _now_! Come on out and _fight like a man_!"

The chuckle echoed again. "Patience, Inuyasha. You should know by now that yelling gets you nowhere—_especially_ not when it's a half-demon like you."

"YOU HYPOCRITE! DIE!" I spun around and swung Tetsuseiga at the trees behind me, not wanting to disturb Midoriko's grave. Besides, he couldn't go in there anyway.

"Kukuku… Missing already? And I thought this would be a challenge."

"COWARD! Come out of hiding, _now_!" I turned again and swung my sword, this time to my left.

"Swinging blindly will do you no good," came his irritatingly mocking voice.

"Shut up and just DIE ALREADY!" Now, I swung to the right. Deep indents were left in the ground where my Wind Scar hit.

I heard a fake sigh of disappointment. "I thought you would have figured it out by now. Such a shame…"

I froze. "W-whaaaa…?" I turned around in the direction of his voice; it was no longer coming from everywhere at once.

I stared straight into the mouth of the cave.

"You're finally catching on, Inuyasha."

I gasped unintentionally. "B-but how? Evil like you isn't allowed to enter!"

I could hear the grin of amusement in his voice. "Well, It's actually quite simple, really. If you used your brain once in a while, then you could probably figure it out; then again, thinking isn't your forte."

I growled angrily.

He laughed. "Ah, Inuyasha. Obviously you aren't in any mood to work what little brain you have, so I'll give you a little push in the right direction."

I snarled.

Completely ignoring my growl, he said, "Since you are a half-demon, surely you have a period when you are a human."

I froze. _D-does he… does he know…? _

But he continued on. "Well, that time period is likely the monthly anniversary of your birth, am I correct?"

I said nothing, not wanting to tell him anything.

He went on as if I had answered him. "I thought so. Well, if _you _have a weak period on every monthly-interval anniversary of your _birth_, then why do you think I am able to enter a place like this—a place that allows no evil?"

My mind was racing to process everything he was telling me. Suddenly, it dawned on me. "Wait…" I said slowly. "Then… this is the anniversary of her death?"

Just then, I heard a voice behind me. "Inuyasha!"

I spun around.

For a moment, joy completely filled my senses. I stared for a few moments at my priestess riding on Kirara's back, and felt more thrilled than I knew I was capable of as I saw Kagome waving at me, trying to catch my attention… and smiling, looking as radiant as ever. _She's…she's back… and she doesn't even look mad at all… _

Then that moment of happiness was over. Fear struck me right through my entire being and into my core. "Wench? What are you _doing here_? _Get_ _away_ from here! _Now_!"

Kagome's smile faltered, and her hand lowered. "Wha—"

A crash came from behind me. I spun around. "Naraku's in Midoriko's Cave! Come on!"

I could hear the surprise in her voice. "Wait—"

"No time for questions! We HAVE TO GO!" Then I took off towards the cave without waiting for an answer.

_***Normal POV* **_

Naraku grinned as Inuyasha yelled at the priestess, and then crept even further into the depths of the cave.

He smiled as he reached the light in the center of the cave. He observed the body of the deceased priestess and the surrounding demons, not overlooking the strange white-ish liquid that coated their bodies.

Naraku smirked and stepped carelessly on top of and over the demons' carcasses. He climbed, grinning even wider when he was at Midoriko's side.

"Hello, Midoriko," he whispered in a slightly mocking tone. He reached out with his hand and gripped her chin with his fingers. As he did, purifying energy sparkled all around him.

Naraku chuckled. "Not happy that I'm intruding, are you?" He frowned. "Ah, don't be that way, my dear."

The energy around them sparkled even more furiously. One particular bolt burnt a good portion of his arm.

He sighed. "Oh well… It was worth a shot. But I guess that this isn't going to get my any favors… so…" Naraku grinned wickedly. "Then I guess I'll just have to do this by force!"

He began to raise his arm, but stopped when he heard a voice call out, "Naraku! Come outta here, ya coward! FIGHT ME!"

He whipped around. _Inuyasha!_ he thought with a growl. _But… He wasn't supposed to be allowed in here! My newest incarnations were supposed to buy me some time! Why— _The scents reached his nose. _Hnn… I miscalculated… I didn't expect that _they _would come here, too… _

He spun back around and snarled, frustrated. "Well, Midoriko, time is short. So I have to make this quick."

Naraku leapt into the air and, with a quick slash of his hand, shot out a large, golden attack at the corpses.

Just then, Inuyasha bounded out angrily from the shadows and was about to continue shouting, but was cut off when he saw Naraku's body begin to mutate.

"Inuyasha, it's been fun, but I have to take my leave." Naraku, in his newly-mutated stated, flew out at a stunning speed out of the cave and out of sight in a matter of seconds.

Just then, the entire cave began to glow and the ground shook violently. "Wha—wha…?"

Inuyasha leapt out of the cave as fast as he could, dragging the rest of the group with him.

"What's going on?" Kagome cried.

Suddenly, the cave behind them collapsed. The surroundings continued to quake uncontrollably as a bright light covered the bodies, almost like a barrier. Everyone watched in a mix of shock, horror, awe, and confusion as lights swirled around the area of the gravesite.

"_Time…"_

"_Space…"_

"_Everything…"_

"_Nothing…" _

"_The world…"_

"_The universe…"_

"_The rulers…"_

"_The peasants…"_

"_The war…"_

"_The peace…"_

"_The love…"_

"_The hate…"_

"_Shikon…"_

A light brighter than anything than any of them had ever seen erupted, and they all recoiled in shock. Without warning, the lights shot up into the sky and disappeared.

They were snapped out of their trance when they heard soft footsteps. Blinking, they watched as a little girl walked in the rubble of what used to be Midoriko's Cave it total silence. At some point, she got to a particular spot, kneeled down, and began to dig with her hands until she uncovered a good portion of Midoriko's face. She rested one hand on her face.

"You have served this world well," the strange girl murmured. "But you no longer have need to carry your burden."

A sigh seemed to echo through the air, and Midoriko's body dissipated and glided away into the breeze. She stood up, still staring at the place Midoriko's body had been. "So… the day has finally come…"

The child turned around to face the group. "Hello." Her voice was blank and robotic. "I am sorry for intruding."

She turned back away from them. Looking up at the top of the mountain the cave had been part of, she called gently, "You can come down now."

A figure fell down on to the ground with a THUD, stirring up an explosion of dust. When the dust cleared, a man wearing a blue robe with silver hair stood up with a smirk. "Yo."

Immediately, Inuyasha was on guard. He shoved Kagome behind him and raised his sword.

The person yawned and said, "Now, now, sheesh, no need to be so cold." Then, he got a strange expression on his face and raised his hands—which the group immediately noticed _had claws_—and began scratching intensely at the top of his head.

After a moment, a pair of dog ears sprung up from his head. He sighed and dropped his hands, looking relieved. "Aahh… That's better."

"You- you- you- you're- you're an Inuhanyou*!"

He grinned rakishly. "Ya. So?"

Inuyasha, obviously having had enough, demanded, "Oi! Who are you?"

The girl spoke, everyone a little caught off guard since she hadn't said anything during their exchange. "My apologies. You're right. How rude of me. I suppose we should introduce ourselves."

The Inuhanyou stepped forward, grin as wide as ever. "'Sup. The name's Puro. Inuhanyou, Lord of the Eastern Lands' son."

He put his hand lightly behind the little girl's back and gave her a gentle shove forward. He beamed as he said, patting his hand on her small head, "And I guess it's about time ya met the reincarnation of the Sacred Jewel's maker." He turned to the little girl and began nudging her playfully and rubbing her hair. "I'd like ya to meet Mikauri."

* * *

><p><strong>=_= You can give me hate comments if you want… I probably deserve them… Sorry for being such a bad author.<strong>

**BUT IT IS NOT MY FAULT! **

**(You know what, I'll just stop now.)**

**Okay. So, does this chapter spark anyone's curiosity? Yes? No? Maybe? :/ **

**Aaaaaaaanyyyyywaaaaayyyyy… I will probably change the summary… maybe even before this update reaches your email accounts… So don't be surprised… _ But DON'T WORRY! The story is STILL gonna be here! Just gonna be taking a slightly different direction from here on out. :D**

***From now on, since I'm getting slightly used to all the Japanese terms that people said are from the anime, I will be using BOTH Japanese AND English terms for this story. **

**Chapter's Question: Look back to the end of last chapter. Who's nickname is "the Void"? (I would give you an episode… but I can't find it anywhere… sorry…)**

**Last chapter's winners: xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx **

**REVIEW REVIEW REEEEEVIIIIEEEEW! **


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